Well finally, after quite a few years making cheese, I succumbed. I finally became tired of cutting my curds all wrong. The Vertical cuts were all too easy. The horizontal ones are just amazingly frustrating and after seeing several uootoob vids on homemade curd knifes I decided that enough was enough.
Attached is a few photos of my humble attempt. The wood is all Australian hardwood and covered in a large number of coats of 'Cabots' Food safe varnish to seal. the cutting material is fishing line- hey! we're cutting milk curd, not cheese. If I was selling the cheese this would be all stainless steel. But seeing as buying the stuff in such small quantities to make this Curd Knife, it was hardly worth the effort. There is no glue in the construction and should be food safe enough. The knife will spend a couple of week drying thoroughly before making a cheese. The spacing is 1.5 cm and for the chesses I make is more than adequate for Cheddars, Caerphilly as well as my 'Malembert'. Or I could just make another with larger spacings. As the cutter lines are only fishing line, it is easily re-threaded for larger curds if necessary. The length is designed for my 12 litre pots and tall enough for much larger. In fact the milk will only come up to the second thick spacer rod. The next ones I make will be half as tall and still be able to cut curds in all my pots. As there is no glue used, it is designed to be dismantled.